A LAWYER who worked on two of the highest profile public inquiries of the last decade has been promoted to partner at his North-East firm.

Kevin Turnbull has been promoted to partner within the Dispute Resolution Group at Newcastle- based Muckle.

It comes after a career involving a number of high-profile cases including the Bloody Sunday and Harold Shipman Inquiries He joined Muckle in 2004 as an associate after completing his training at Eversheds, also in Newcastle.

It was in January 1998 that Tony Blair ordered a new inquiry into the events of January 1972 when British troops opened fire in Londonderry, with the final report due to be published later this year.

Mr Turnbull said: “It involved recompiling the evidence as far as achieveable, before the original inquiry and supplemental evidence.

“We were taking statements from people and revisiting transcripts.”

Mr Turnbull then found himself involved in the Harold Shipman inquiry, where Dame Janet Smith considered how many patients Shipman killed, the means employed and the period over which the killings took place.

It began following Shipman’s conviction in January 2000 of the murder of 15 of his patients while he was a general practitioner in Market Street, Hyde, near Manchester.

Shipman killed himself in Wakefield Prison, in January 2004.

Mr Turnbull said: “We set up an office in Hyde. The main thing we were doing was compiling evidence in the form of witness statements, relatives who we considered to be possible victims of Shipman.”

Now widely recognised as a leader in the field of commercial litigation, Mr Turnbull has been instrumental in a series of cases involving fraud, asset recovery and in high value contract disputes.

He added: “My promotion is very much a reflection of the success of our highly-skilled team and, in 2008, the team was ranked in the highest band of leading firms for dispute resolution in the North- East.

“I am excited about the opportunities which lie ahead and really looking forward to building on both the team and the firm’s success.”

Other promotions at Muckles include Catherine Lamb and Jennifer Quayle, who have each been promoted to the role of associate in the commercial team and private client group, respectively.